This parable is directed to the chief priests and the elders after Jesus’ formal entry into Jerusalem. He is in the temple teaching. We can imagine that after such a triumphal entry in Jerusalem, that large crowds formed in the temple to listen to his teaching. The chief priest and elders come not to listen but rather to demand from him some proof of his authority to teach.
Rather than respond to their demand, Jesus recounts to them the story of their own history in the form of this parable. The people that God chose as his own, whom he invited to be part of his own life in the image of a wedding feast, and to whom he gave a special mission did not want to participate in the feast. Some just ignored the invitation and their responsibilities while others busied themselves with business and farm duties. Despite repeated opportunities and invitations, they distanced themselves from the feast. They even went so far as to lay hands on the messengers.
So rather than limit the invitation to a select few, the new invitation to the feast is extended to all. It becomes a wide-open invitation that includes bad and good. That is who Jesus is a wide-open invitation to all to come and be part of God’s life. This would have been a shocking concept for his listeners because Israel maintained its holiness through an exclusive relationship with God. No one else was allowed entrance. Jesus’ incorporation of all is the source of our joy as Christians. God is always calling all of us to part of his life.
The invitation does have certain responsibilities. In the parable the responsibilities are proper wedding feast garment. For Christians the joy of the invitation leads us to a new form of life. An authentic Christian is garbed in the white baptism tunic and live constantly dedicated to renouncing sin. The process of conversion is not just a personal aspect of our lives. There is also a communal aspect. As each of us moves along in the conversion, we become a public sign of Jesus’ authority over sin in us. We become public sign of Jesus’ victory over sin and death in us by the way we live.
The religious leaders and pious folks of that time attempted to build their holiness based on authority, restrictiveness, boundaries, rigid rules, external rites, and even violence. This resulted in a false piety that gave no public sign of God’s love, mercy, or compassion. Many others just ignored their responsibilities and dedicated themselves to work, business, and wealth. Jesus extends a non-condemning invitation to all, calling us to a true internal conversion and public witness with our lives.
Where are you in the parable? A person of rigid, false, external piety? A good neighbor basing your life on work and business? Or a Christian in the process of conversion?
Many are invited, but few are chosen.
Image: https://jamesjackson.blog/2023/11/03/day-308-feast-a-poem-based-on-matthew-221-14/